When a person is arrested and held in custody, the bail hearing is one of the first and most urgent steps in a criminal case. It decides whether the accused remains in the community while the case moves through court, or waits in custody until it is resolved.
A bail hearing is not a trial and does not address guilt. Under Canadian law, an accused person is presumed innocent, and the starting point set out in the Criminal Code is release, not detention.
Foote Law represents people at bail hearings in Orangeville and across Ontario. The hours before a hearing matter, and early advice from a lawyer helps in preparing the plan that gives an accused the best chance of release.
When an arrest leads to a bail hearing, Foote Law provides focused representation at every stage:
Foote Law accepts Legal Aid Ontario certificates and Employee Assistance Program referrals. Call Foote Law in Orangeville at 519-940-8309.
Foote Law serves clients in Orangeville, Brampton, Shelburne, Alliston, Barrie, Owen Sound, Newmarket, Guelph, and throughout the Greater Toronto Area, in person and virtually.
A bail hearing, formally called judicial interim release, is the court process that decides whether an accused person is released while a charge proceeds. Under section 503 of the Criminal Code, police who do not release an accused after arrest must bring the person before a justice without unreasonable delay and, in any event, within 24 hours of the arrest if a justice is available.
Two points about timing are worth knowing:
Under section 515(10) of the Criminal Code, the court can refuse bail only on one or more of three grounds:
If none of these grounds is established, the accused is entitled to release.
The Criminal Code requires the court to start at the least restrictive form of release and move up only as far as necessary. That order, often called the ladder principle, runs from a simple promise to attend court, to release with conditions, to release with a surety, to a deposit of money, with detention held as a last resort.
A defence lawyer's job is to keep an accused as low on that ladder as the circumstances allow, since the law prefers release on the least restrictive terms that fit the case.
In most cases, the Crown must show why an accused should be detained or held on strict terms; the accused does not have to prove that release is deserved.
For certain serious charges, section 515(6) of the Criminal Code reverses that burden, and the accused must show why release is justified. This reverse onus applies to charges such as some firearm and violence offences and to a person charged with an offence while already released on another. In these cases, a strong, detailed release plan matters most, since the starting point is stricter.
A surety is a person, usually family or a close friend, who agrees to supervise the accused in the community and pledges an amount of money that can be forfeited if the accused breaches the conditions imposed. The court examines a proposed surety's character, finances, any record, and their real ability to supervise, and the surety may be questioned under oath.
Two points matter for sureties. In some circumstances, such as where the accused or surety lives outside the region or is not ordinarily a resident of Ontario, the court can require the pledged amount to be deposited as cash before release, rather than simply promised on paper. It is also against the law to accept payment for acting as a surety.
Conditions must be no more restrictive than necessary and connected to a real risk in the case.
When an arrest leads to custody, the first hours before a bail hearing matter most. That is when a release plan comes together, and early legal advice can decide whether the accused goes home. Call Foote Law in Orangeville at 519-940-8309.
